Bad things. Bad choices. Bad people.

I am a researcher. It is part of my DNA. No matter the issue or situation or challenge or victory, I research. Often when I’m watching a “historical” film, I pull out my lap top and begin to research to see how authentic the presentation actually is.

So when I found out that infidelity was a theme in my marriage, research immediately became a big part of the process. I researched to see the impact of divorce on older kids. I researched statistics. I researched methods of revenge. I researched practices for healing. I researched who and why men cheat. Why women cheat. How cheaters get away with their lies. Whether the betrayeds know. (How I could be so stupid).

I researched other women, and dug deep into the hearts of the betrayed. I tried to find evidence that there could be healing for me. Eventually, I looked into healing for us.

There is a recurring theme of conversations that niggles in my soul. It is about bad. Here is this healing, madly-in-love-with-her-former-cheating-HUSBAND betrayed’s view on bad:

Bad things:

Affairs are bad things. Period. No matter the situation or the circumstances. No matter the ten-year sexless marriage, or the financial trap, or the abuse. Affairs are not the way to solve problems, and ultimately only lead to more problems. If you are desperately – or even pretty – unhappy in your relationship – get help. If you have tried and your partner won’t (cause you cannot do it alone), get out. If you think you are trapped, that is a lie. But so is the lie that an affair will be an answer. It is heaping more problems on an already really shitty situation, no matter how good it feels in the moment.

Bad choices:

Affairs don’t just happen in an instant. There are always a series of small, infinitesimal choices along the way that get you to a place of vulnerability and risk. Choices like not addressing your spouse’s sadness at the dining room table. Agreeing to go separate ways more and more frequently, even in your free time. Not being brave or aware enough to see that the only thing you are talking about is finances, kids, or problems. HUSBAND and I both own these choices, and work hard now to press in to these places and not allow them to gather dust.

But then…there are choices like finding yourself talking about your spouse in less than positive ways. Sharing intimate details about your thoughts and hopes with someone other than your spouse. Forsaking real intimacy for porn. Hoping your feet don’t touch in bed. Every one of these moments is a choice. And then, taking her number, or texting back. HUSBAND shared that he sent a text to his last AP the morning after running in to her at his high school reunion, saying “Are you headed back to Atlanta?” (She had traveled to the event with her 16-year live-in-lover). She responded, “Not yet. Why…what do you have in mind?” His choice: text her. Her choice: respond provocatively. Choices. A series of bad choices.

Bad people:

No doubt, there are some really bad actors out there. Narcissists who are incapable of really deep compassion and affection for anyone but themselves. Serial cheaters who never own their painful behavior. Partners who continue to lie and deceive But aside from those scary people, the majority of people that end up in affairs and ripping the very soul out of their partner are men and women who can do and be positive and good in many ways. It’s one of the reasons I never suspected any betrayal…after all, HUSBAND was such a good guy. HUSBAND is the man who is the first neighbor to help in a crisis. He lends our equipment and stuff to friends, and shares our abundance with everyone. He loves to help people learn and takes time to teach the best methods of fishing and hunting to kids, to other dads, to anyone interested. He is dad-extraordinaire, creating fabulous science projects with each of our children and never missing a game or event throughout their lives. He was team-dad alongside me as team-mom, dragging coolers and water and meals and snacks and never getting cranky or frustrated (I did). He loves to engage and interact with anyone and has a real skill for making them feel good.

This goodness is real, but it was also a desperate and constant attempt to hide the dark side of himself, the reality that he was capable and culpable of lying and betraying and cheating the ones he loved most. His goodness convinced him for a very long time that ‘he wasn’t that guy’ and yet one day. One day he was gripped with the reality that he was that guy. That guy who cheated, who betrayed, who had taken the most precious ones of all and blighted them with lies and deception.

As far as his cheating partners…one of them has evidence of goodness in her life too. She is married, and was married, when they had their year-long affair. To hear HUSBAND tell the story today, the work-place affair started years before with mild flirting and low-level sexual tension between them (see above: bad choices). They’d actually gone on one date many years prior to their affair, before either was married. It was around her ten-year and our seven-year mark that things shifted. All it took was that one choice – that one innuendo carried a little further with a “do we dare try it” kind of dangler and they were off to the races. Pure sex, nothing emotional on that one. If I’d known then, perhaps I’d be less able to see the evidence of goodness in her but…I see she reconciled with her husband. I see she loves her kids. I see she left the company after the affair ended. I see that she is caring for a dying family member. I see some good in this woman who stole from me without me having any idea at the time.

The other major AP…the one HUSBAND was going to leave me for…the one who showed up at his house before I was in the picture – when he was a young, single working man to tell him ‘she’d always wanted to jump his bones’ (after which they had their first roll in the hay). The one who came to our wedding and watched us pledge ourselves to each other. The one who, less than two years later, drove him to her house rather than home when he was too drunk to drive (where they rolled in the hay again) and then proceeded to engage in an affair – his first – while I unsuspectingly took care of his firstborn and was nurturing our second in my womb. The one who, 25 years later, asked the leading question after he made the (bad) choice to text and embarked on another affair with HUSBAND. The one who encouraged him to have the best rest of his life – with her – and to forsake me and his children and his faith and all that he deeply wanted to be. That one? I have a hard time seeing the good in her. Never married, works a corporate job, doesn’t spend much time helping others or making a difference in her community. Lies to her own long-term lover (and as it turns out, to HUSBAND as well). I do see evidence of her being good to her dog – guess that’s something.

And then I’m faced with the reality that she was someone’s little girl. She had hopes and dreams once. Now, she is at this stage in her life and can look at lots of things she has been able to accumulate, but little if any people and relationships in which she can find joy and hope and peace. When I can see her through those eyes, through the eyes of my Savior who gave His life for me – and for her – I feel sad. I don’t see her badness as much – I see her brokenness.

Bad people? There are some. Broken people? Seems like we all fit in that category. I’m grateful that there is a path from broken to healing, and that as rocky and dangerous as it is, I’ve found it. My plea for you is that whichever side of broken you may be…don’t stop fighting for whole.

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24 thoughts on “Bad things. Bad choices. Bad people.”

Precious sister and friend, I love you dearly. Thank you for once again pouring out your heart to benefit others. Thank you for sharing your gifts (research, analysis, writing, and a deep love for the One Who Heals) to help others see the Light.

So much loaded in each and every word. Thank you for sharing your research. As we know not all affairs and people are created equal. As much as it hurts to admit it we all have a part that we must (as ugly as it may be)admit to ourselves. Stay strong 💕

I love that you are madly in love with your former cheating husband. When I began my path to healing, my goal was simply not to hurt anymore. I have been amazed at the deep love and joy God has brought us individually and as a couple. It is so fun being so crazy in love at our age!
Thank you for sharing hope, and your understanding and insight of God’s broken people. May you be blessed as you continue to bless others.

You have such strength and such a huge, forgiving heart. I so admire that about you. I can and will never offer forgiveness for betrayal…but you could and did. I hope that heart of yours soars on the wings of true happiness. 🙂

Oh dear Laurel. You are so beautiful, and I am incredibly grateful for you. Our stories have some things in common but an awful lot that turned differently along the way. I see your heart, and it is huge too. Big hugs from me to you.

“Never married, works a corporate job, doesn’t spend much time helping others or making a difference in her community.”
Yeah, that right there is the definition of “broken”. Does that make you feel good?
You pose as a Christian but you are just another phony, judgemental, bitter white woman. Bet you can’t wait for holy roller phony brother Pence to be POTUS.

I’m sorry you were offended by my description, Jaime. I don’t think those things make her broken, but there are plenty of other things that do. And I’m broken right along side her. I hope you find peace and joy somewhere, somehow.

I admire you so much and thank you for sharing your heart. It’s not easy to find, or I should say, even look for good qualities in a person that would be a partner in the most horrific betrayal. Not sure what Mike Pence has to do with this, but oh well! 🙏🏻❤️

I don’t know where the comment came from either. So many assumptions…that really reveal more about the poster than the author. I have to keep that in front of me. Thank you for your kind words. Big hugs!

They are both phony “Christians”. Hypocrites who pose as righteous people. He is vile and all his phony Christian brothas and sistas can’t wait for him to get in the chair and represent their phony values.

I agree with nearly every word of this and I see myself and our journey in much of it. I only disagree with the bad choices on the part of the betrayed spouse. Saying we have any part whatsoever in our partners’ choice to have an affair is wrong. Maybe I am misinterpreting your words though. Marriages are made up of two inherently flawed individuals and mistakes will always be made. We cannot say to a betrayed, well you talked about the kids too much or ignored your husband when he was sad and these things contributed to affair vulnerability. That’s like telling the parent of a drug addict that those few nights when they were too tired to read a bedtime story or they made boxed Mac and cheese instead of from scratch, it contributed to making their child vulnerable to feeling neglected and turning to drugs.

Hey EG. We are on the same page. I do not blame myself in any way for HUSBAND’s choice to cheat. There were pivotal moments in our relationship that we both were in and instead of him leaning in…he first ignored. And then turned out. His responses. His choices. And no amount of me being more attentive or gracious or present could have changed it. Big hugs to you!

if instructions are followed properly it works….. it wasn’t really for the purpose of hacking spouse, just wanted to have an idea what the child was up to, since he started acting strange….and it was done for me by someone else remotely without access to phone… do have a lovely weekend

That was beautiful, Susan. Thank you. I’ve been married to a woman for 21 years who’s a cheater and a narcissist. Sadly, we also have to young children. In 2016, she spun out of control, and really turned evil and violent. “Bad Things, Bad Choices, Bad People” really sums it up well. You and I are on the same page. I invite you to check out my story on my blog. Our divorce is almost final.